


Love Only Lasts A While

by Isaac_Not_Newton



Series: Pre-game and Post-game [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied dark content but not really that bad?, In-Game Saihara Shuichi, M/M, Post-Killing School Life (Dangan Ronpa), Pre-Game Akamatsu Kaede, Pre-Game Momota Kaito, Pre-Game Oma Kokichi, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Pre-Game Saihara Shuichi, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 14:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isaac_Not_Newton/pseuds/Isaac_Not_Newton
Summary: Part 2 of Joining is Inevitable set after the killing game. I don't really think you need to read the first part to read this one since there are only a few things that are mentioned in part 1.  //English version.





	Love Only Lasts A While

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [L’amour Ne Dure Qu’un Temps](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137747) by [Isaac_Not_Newton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isaac_Not_Newton/pseuds/Isaac_Not_Newton). 

> If you see any mistakes, please alert me.  
Feedback is appreciated.  
Suggestions are also appreciated.  
Like usual, I did not beta this but more importantly, I hope you can enjoy this story. 
> 
> //tbh I don't really know why I wrote the second part in french first?

"Saihara-chan, you know I miss you, don't you? I know very well that you don't miss me, come on, it was just a joke! You don’t even remember the time together that we spent but that’s okay too!” Kokichi looked out of the window, as usual, Shuichi was walking next to Maki. Since the game had finished, Shuichi had made him understand very well that they were no longer dating. Kokichi still remembers the words Shuichi had muttered at him that day.

“Ouma-kun, you know that I only love you in a friendly way,” Shuichi’s eyes were narrowed in a way that showed his pain. He laughed awkwardly after telling him that and gauged his face for Kokichi’s reaction.

“Are you trying to tell me that you no longer remember our relationship?” Kokichi knew very well that Shuichi didn’t. He didn’t have his memories of the past anymore so there was no way he would remember. Shuichi shook his head and that made Kokichi’s heartbreak. Were the creators of the game going to make him suffer even outside the game?

“We are friends, aren’t we?” Shuichi hadn’t laughed at the end of the sentence like Kokichi had hoped he would. His mind was slowly getting clouded with the realization that Shuichi thought he was joking or something along those lines. Did Shuichi think his feelings were a lie? Shuichi wasn’t even mocking him at that point, Kokichi had to deal with the fact that Shuichi couldn’t remember him in his pregame state anymore.

“Yes… Yes, you’re right,” Kokichi remembered having to force a smile onto his face for his own sake. The detective didn’t even notice it and waved him goodbye as they went on their own way.

Shuichi was a cursed detective for not being able to see how he really felt inside. He definitely wasn’t nearly as smart as people pinned him to be. Even in their last moments in their life in Danganronpa, Shuichi hadn’t even thought about asking questions or to get any answers out of Tsumugi. Kokichi was just wallowing in the state of sadness Shuichi had left him in, in fact, he actually really liked Shuichi. 

The detective was very smart but he could be stupid at times. Kokichi knew people that got hurt by Shuichi’s actions, notably himself since he didn’t actually know anybody else the Ultimate Detective had hurt. He couldn’t help but smile ruefully as he saw Shuichi laugh at something Maki had said. Kokichi had always thought that Shuichi would’ve ended up with Kaede but the girl, after regaining her memories, had rejected him without a hint of doubt.

He hadn’t managed to stop the sadistic grin that had overcome his face when he had heard her say no. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth even if he wasn’t the one who had managed to get back at Shuichi. He didn’t think he would ever be able to hurt Shuichi, not when he was the one who had saved him from sinking into ultimate despair. He could still remember the miserable expression that had settled itself onto Shuichi’s face.

After everything they had lived through, only the people who had died had apparently gotten their memories back. Angie had kept her love for Atua and still talked about Atua as often as she did in game. He hadn’t even tried to know how the others were doing and honestly he didn’t even care if they were alive or not. 

He sighed when he saw Shuichi and Maki go out of his field of vision and collapsed against the border of his window. It was a bit heartbreaking, he now lived right in front of his ex. He even went to the same school as Shuichi did and spent so much time so close yet so far away from the one he loved.

Shuichi had stopped talking to him since the moment he had understood that he wasn’t even remotely interested in Kokichi or at least that’s how Kokichi viewed his sudden lack of interest in him. He must have lacked whatever had made him interesting in Shuichi’s mind and that honestly hurt more than he could explain. He felt like if Shuichi gave him a chance than he’d maybe be able to regain his attention but that was impossible now for the purple-haired boy.

“Open the door, I can hear you cry from all the way over here,” Kokichi heard Kaito yell as he banged on his door. 

Kokichi sighed before he got up and used the back of his sleeve to wipe a few tears that had gathered in his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he was crying until he had felt them roll down his mid-cheek. Kokichi honestly preferred in-game Kaito, he was much nicer than whatever the pregame Kaito was. He was still the same in some ways but it was weird seeing Kaito so different from how he acted in Danganronpa.

“What do you want from me?” Kokichi asked, eyes narrowing in a way that made Kaito understand that he was slightly annoyed at his presence.

“Maki Roll told me to give you this,” the thing with Kaito was that he kept alternating between his two personalities. One week, he’d be the gentle Kaito who considered Shuichi his partner and the other half of the time he looked like he was ready to annoy just about anybody who came in his way. Well, maybe not annoy more like beat them up he supposes. 

The first thing Maki and Kaito had done when they had found each other outside of the game was to start dating. It was half-disgusting and half just plain jealousy that made Kokichi grimace every time he saw the two together. He could’ve been like that with Shuichi fi only he had regained his memories. Kokichi wasn’t too sure whether Maki’s got her back but definitely didn’t feel like asking.

Kokichi hated admitting that he had an intense phobia of Kaito. Every time he saw him, he felt like he could just vomit the contents of his stomach. He shouldn't have felt that way, after all, he was the one who had asked Kaito to kill him. 

He yanked the letter out of Kaito’s hand and closed the door before running to his window and opening the letter. His head bumped against the wooden frame of the window and he let out a sigh as he took out the letter inside the envelope. 

“Hello Ouma-kun,” the letter was already starting in a bad way. The way the person wrote his name reminded him too much of the way Shuichi would call him. A sinking feeling invaded his gut, Shuichi was his Achilles' heel and that didn’t help how he felt. He trembled as he continued reading, nothing good could come out of this letter.

“I have something to tell you so please come see me behind the school after classes finish,” Kokichi read Shuichi’s name on the bottom of the letter at least twenty times before the thought finally sank in that Shuichi was the one who had actually written the letter. Why had he even asked Maki to give him the letter?

“Are you serious? Does he even know that I watch him every morning? Is that why he wants to meet me after school?” Kokichi felt his jaw drop without his consent. He was scared, what if Shuichi got a restraining order on him or something? He quickly changed into his uniform and did his hair. Well whatever it was, he wanted to at least look presentable. 

He was going to be late at this point. He saw Kaito come down the stairs exactly at the moment where he was going down the stairs. They usually didn’t go to school together but for once Kokichi allowed himself to be late so he was stuck with Kaito whether he wanted to be or not.

“Hey,” Kaito had a troubling look on his face as he looked at him. Kokichi returned the look with one of annoyance and almost told him to shut up but he knew better than to do something like that. He wouldn’t deny the possibility that Kaito could snap him in half just as easily as he could say those words. He was weak after all, as much as he didn’t want to admit it.

“Listen to me Momota-chan, I don’t have the intention to explain what has happened and don’t even try to ask me anything. I know what you want to ask, don’t make that face,” Kokichis said as he saw Kaito turn his head. The future astronaut was pouting but honestly, Kokichi didn’t care. What was on his mind was that Shuichi wanted to speak to him.

Classes passed at an incredible speed, Kokichi almost felt like he had just arrived at school. Well then again, he could barely concentrate on his classes when the idea of Shuichi calling him out kept turning around his head. Even Maki looked confused at his sudden fixation on his own thoughts. 

She had even tried speaking to Shuichi but the detective hadn’t revealed anything that could help her. The worst was that Shuichi was doing the same thing as Kokichi, spacing off to who-knows-where. She wondered just what was making Shuichi and Kokichi so worked up. She sent Kaito a questioning look but he only shook his head and gestured that he didn’t know any more than she did.

When the last bell of the day rang, Kokichi couldn’t help but run the entire way to the back of his school, making sure that he changed his shoes as quickly as he could. Somehow, Shuichi was already there, waiting for him, as he arrived, tired and panting.

“Ouma-kun, thank you for coming,” Shuichi was still the same as the in-game him. He was nice and gentle and it almost reminded him of Danganronpa. It also reminded him how they had been before the game. He had told himself that he would never be able to talk to Shuichi again but the detective always seemed to have a way of surprising him.

“What do you want from me?” Kokichi asked, grimacing interiorly at how rude he sounded but he didn’t try to make it better. He wanted it to hurt Shuichi in some ways, the same way it had almost ripped a hole into his chest.

“Kokichi, I’m sorry for pushing you away from me like that but you have to understand that I was confused. I have never thought that we would see each other ever again and even else that you would remember the past. It was too different from what I had expected and you know, it also made me suffer. I’m very sorry for that,” Shuichi had said that while looking into his eyes. Kokichi didn’t see where Shuichi was trying to get at.

“If you don’t have anything important to tell me, I’m going to leave,” Kokichi mumbled, closing his eyes and getting ready for the silence that would follow. He could feel tears bubbling in his eyes but tried his best to hold them there. He knew that Shuichi had suffered but why did he feel the need to remind him of the time Kokichi had suffered the most?

He had returned to an apartment that had been his comfort house. He had been living with Shuichi previously but now they had given him an apartment with everything that had been in his room at the time he had left with Shuichi to join Danganronpa. There were traces of Shuichi everywhere in his apartment and he could barely ignore them. 

Shuichi might have had amnesia at the moment but Kokichi honestly thought he would prefer having amnesia then remembering all those painful memories that he would never be able to relive. He couldn’t help the past him when he had thought that Shuichi had left and that it was all because of him.

He didn’t change for the sake of Shuichi, he hadn’t even tried to go back to his personality from inside Danganronpa. Logically, he knew that it was stupid for him to think that it was his own fault that Shuichi had left him, but the sentiment grew whenever he saw those frames of them on their little dates. The one which hurt him the most was the one where Shuichi held his Danganronpa merch with all those signatures he loved. Kokichi had stood beside him with the limited edition book Shuichi had gotten him. He had to remember to go check on the message written inside when he got home.

“Kokichi, I still love you,” Shuichi said suddenly. Kokichi had never expected that answer and he felt his own head whip up so quickly he thought he would get backlash from it. His eyes opened on their own accord to look at Shuichi. The detective had a rosy tint on his angled face and Kokichi could only see half of it.

“What?” Kokichi screamed in a way that was in no way dignified. Shuichi tried to smile at him reassuringly but it came out weird.

“Kokichi, I’m sorry to have pushed you out of my life but you really do have to understand that I was as confused as you were. The way you died… it left me wondering if it was okay to date or even be friends with you but now I realize that I was really just making a huge mistake by doing that. I really did love you and I still do. I wanted to say that even if I don’t have memories of our past together that I still love you. I asked Kaede to go out with me because I thought that she could help me with my feelings like she had in the game but she made me understand that I was asking for too much from someone who now barely knew me. I just… those aren’t excuses, I shouldn’t have left you and I really do hope that you will forgive me,” Shuichi had a few tears rolling down his face.

“Stop lying to me,” Kokichi replied as angrily as he could even as a small smile spread onto his face. He shouldn’t give Shuichi another chance was what occupied his mind a bit he couldn’t help it. Shuichi was the only reason why he had been happy and that was what finally influenced his decision.

“Ouma-kun, I’m not lying. Please believe me?” Shuichi asked, turning his head slightly so that more of his face was visible. Without warning, Kokichi flung himself into Shuichi’s arm and laughed as Shuichi caught him.

“I don’t think I could stop believing in you,” Kokichi laughed a bit more and shoved his face into Shuichi’s shoulder. He winced as his nose hit Shuichi’s bone but relaxed when Shuichi pulled him closer. He was glad that the detective hadn’t pushed him away.

-Shu-

“I will not leave you alone,” Shuichi smiled as he gently put his chin onto the top of the purple-haired male’s head. It was official, Kokichi belonged to him. He had seen Kokichi’s dedication to him. 

He was studied with the way Kokichi had been so desperate. He had finally found someone who could go with him into Danganronpa and come back out. He was especially glad that Kokichi was still in love with him and forgave him even after he had done so many mean things to him but his beloved didn’t need to know about that.

Kokichi didn’t feel the change in Shuichi’s attitude and let himself get softly rocked by Shuichi’s sugar-coated words.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any requests or prompts you'd like for me to write, you can message me on Instagram (isaac_t_foster) or Tumblr (isaacnotnewton3). You can also reach me if you have any questions you'd like to ask me. Thank you for reading.


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